Oral Roberts–Tulsa basketball rivalry

The Oral Roberts–Tulsa basketball rivalry is a college basketball rivalry game between cross-town rivals, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles. The two teams first played each other in 1974 and as of 2021 have played a total of 117 games. After the rivalry resumed in 2012, it was branded "PSO Mayor’s Cup" with Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) as its corporate sponsor.

PSO Mayor's Cup: Tulsa-Oral Roberts basketball rivalry

Tulsa Golden Hurricane Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
Sport	College basketball
First meeting	March 4, 1974 Tulsa 85, Oral Roberts 84
Latest meeting	December 2, 2023 Oral Roberts 79, Tulsa 70
Next meeting	2024
Trophy	PSO Mayor's Cup
Statistics
Meetings total	58
All-time series	Tulsa leads 36–22
Largest victory	Oral Roberts, 106–62 (1976)
Longest win streak	Tulsa, 13 (1980–1986)
Current win streak	Oral Roberts, 3 (2021–present)

[Interactive fullscreen map + nearby articles]

Locations of Tulsa and Oral Roberts

History

Tulsa University (TU) and Oral Roberts University (ORU) had their first meeting on March 4, 1974, which Tulsa won 85–84.^[1] The series has been hard fought since then, and TU holds the edge in the overall series 36–21. The rivalry has been marked by remarkable runs either way: Oral Roberts won 8 consecutive match-ups in the late 1970s; directly following that streak, TU won the next 13 in a row and 24 of 27 between December 8, 1980, and December 19, 2002.^[2] The rivalry has become more balanced this century, with TU leading a 9–8 edge over the past 17 meetings. The largest margin of victory was 45 points, by TU over ORU in 1994. Another turning point in the rivalry was TU's hiring of Bill Self away from ORU prior to the 1997–98 season.

The Tulsa and Oral Roberts Women's basketball teams have faced off in the series since 1976. The ORU Women's team has dominated, 30–7, including a 20-game streak from 1976 through 1999.

The cross-town basketball series has been called the "PSO Mayor’s Cup" since 2012, with Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) serving as the title sponsor.

The 2014 PSO Mayor's Cup Men's game, held on November 15 at Oral Roberts' Mabee Center, was won by ORU by a score of 77–68, serving as the second straight win in the series by the Golden Eagles. The 2014 PSO Mayor's Cup Women's game, held on November 21, was also won by ORU by a score of 73–71.

Oral Roberts swept the PSO Mayor's Cup games again in 2015, this time at Tulsa's Reynolds Center, with the Golden Eagle women winning 59–53 on November 20, and the ORU men taking their third in a row in the series, 70–68 on December 5.

The series has seen three interruptions in its history: four seasons spanning 1987 to 1991 when Oral Roberts dropped to NAIA status; in 2010-11 when Tulsa would not agree to a date for the contracted game at ORU's Mabee Center, and 2020-21 when TU opted out of games at Arkansas and ORU due to COVID issues in the program.

Men's Game Results

Tulsa victories

Oral Roberts victories

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 March 4, 1974 Tulsa Fairgrounds Pavilion Tulsa 85–84 2 March 6, 1975 Mabee Center Tulsa 91–83 3 December 10, 1975 Mabee Center Oral Roberts 70–69 4 March 6, 1976 Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa 87–78 5 December 2, 1976 Mabee Center Oral Roberts 106–62 6 January 8, 1977 Tulsa Convention Center Oral Roberts 80–62 7 December 15, 1977 Tulsa Convention Center Oral Roberts 77–70 8 January 30, 1978 Mabee Center Oral Roberts 56–54 9 December 14, 1978 Mabee Center Oral Roberts 83–72 10 February 15, 1979 Tulsa Convention Center Oral Roberts 91–86 11 December 20, 1979 Tulsa Convention Center Oral Roberts 99–84 12 February 18, 1980 Mabee Center Oral Roberts 88–86 13 December 8, 1980 Mabee Center Tulsa 72–69 14 February 28, 1981 Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa 81–70 15 December 12, 1981 Tulsa Convention Center #14 Tulsa 80–63 16 February 25, 1982 Tulsa Convention Center #8 Tulsa 91–70 17 December 18, 1982 Mabee Center Tulsa 63–56 18 February 2, 1983 Mabee Center Tulsa 101–71 19 December 1, 1983 Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa 87–81 20 January 12, 1984 Mabee Center #20 Tulsa 84–78 21 November 27, 1984 Mabee Center Tulsa 86–82 22 January 14, 1985 Tulsa Convention Center #20 Tulsa 71–61 23 December 19, 1985 Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa 63–47 24 January 2, 1986 Mabee Center Tulsa 81–65 25 December 2, 1986 Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa 71–44 26 January 5, 1987 Mabee Center Oral Roberts 59–55 27 February 17, 1992 Mabee Center Tulsa 78–62 28 December 12, 1992 Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa 104–81 29 January 25, 1993 Mabee Center Tulsa 103–69 30 December 6, 1993 Mabee Center Tulsa 94–74 No. Date Location Winner Score 31 December 10, 1994 Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa 99–54 32 December 30, 1995 Mabee Center Oral Roberts 90–78 33 January 11, 1997 Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa 77–70 34 December 14, 1997 Mabee Center Tulsa 58–53 35 December 13, 1998 Reynolds Center Tulsa 73–68 36 December 11, 1999 Mabee Center Oral Roberts 60–59 37 December 10, 2000 Reynolds Center Tulsa 89–81^OT 38 December 1, 2001 Mabee Center Tulsa 73–66^OT 39 December 19, 2002 Reynolds Center #22 Tulsa 90–80 40 December 6, 2003 Mabee Center Oral Roberts 87–81 41 December 5, 2004 Reynolds Center Oral Roberts 70–47 42 December 3, 2005 Mabee Center Oral Roberts 68–52 43 November 28, 2006 Reynolds Center Tulsa 75–57 44 November 27, 2007 Mabee Center Oral Roberts 84–70 45 November 15, 2008 Reynolds Center Tulsa 50–43 46 January 20, 2010 Mabee Center Tulsa 57–52 47 November 16, 2010 Reynolds Center Tulsa 83–68 48 December 22, 2012 Mabee Center Tulsa 72–68 49 November 10, 2013 Reynolds Center Oral Roberts 74–68 50 November 15, 2014 Mabee Center Oral Roberts 77–68 51 December 5, 2015 Reynolds Center Oral Roberts 70–68 52 November 28, 2016 Mabee Center Tulsa 79–65 53 November 13, 2017 Reynolds Center Tulsa 90–71 54 December 22, 2018 Mabee Center Tulsa 69–59 55 November 12, 2019 Reynolds Center Tulsa 74–67 56 November 29, 2021 Mabee Center Oral Roberts 87–80 57 December 3, 2022 Reynolds Center Oral Roberts 77–66 58 Decmeber 2, 2023 Mabee Center Oral Roberts 79–70 Series: Tulsa leads 36–22

References

1. Bonham, Chad. Golden Hurricane Basketball at the University of Tulsa. Chicago: Arcadia, 2004, pg. 37.
2. Oral Roberts Basketball Media Guide, pg. 151